AA7FT and I had a conversation over Night Watch ale (highly recommended) last
night and have the following mods to offer:
1) Ratings are based on a 2-year sliding window. Initially, you could submit
your last two
years worth of scores, with a maximum of 6 win/place/shows, to land as
high as Cat 2, then you have to claw your way up to Cat 1. Conversely,
it would take a couple of years to slide backwards a category or two, so
you would REALLY have to want to sandbag it. The 2-year window acts as
a low-pass filter on operating skill. Let's face it, if you sit out a
year, you'll get a bit rusty.
2) As far as the peer categories, let's just use the divisions and cate-
gories that the sponsors decide is best for their contest. If they want
to change someday, great. Grid squares just don't get my blood boiling
with desire, but they might be useful. No suggestions about how to
handle it if you're the only entrant in your locale...as in North Da-
koty or some such.
3) K3NA's suggestion about percentile (to let crowded locales "breathe
easier") is real good. Say top 10% replaces win/place/show and lowest
10% or non-participation works as a "Minus point" on your rating.
Just the latest chit-chat from 7-land!
73, Ward
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